The Last Paycheck and Unused Vacation
820 ILCS 115/5 — final pay by the next regular payday, with earned vacation paid out
An employer pays a separated employee's final compensation in full at the time of separation if possible, and in no case later than the employee's next regularly scheduled payday. Where the employee asks in writing for the final pay by mailed check, the employer does that.
Who handles this in Illinois: Illinois Department of Labor and Illinois Department of Employment Security; and legal aid programs, lawyer referral and the state offices, listed in the Illinois directory.
Earned vacation is wages. Where a contract or policy provides paid vacation and the employee resigns or is terminated without having taken all the vacation earned, the money equivalent of all of it is paid with the final compensation at the final rate of pay, and no contract or policy may forfeit earned vacation at separation, unless a collective bargaining agreement provides otherwise.
Sources for this section (1)
- 820 ILCS 115/5 — 820 ILCS 115/5
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Illinois attorney.